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R2-KT was created in 2005 to honor Katie Johnson, a very special little girl who tragically passed away from brain cancer on August 9, 2005 at the age of seven. Her father, Albin Johnson, is the founder of the 501st Legion, a Star Wars costuming fan club that performs charity work around the world. Katie had a special wish: to visit Walt Disney World. Through the generosity of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Katie's wish was granted. Then one more special dream came true. Katie's sister, Allie, was inspired one day while watching Attack of the Clones, in which R2-D2 watches over the sleeping Padme. Allie thought how great it would be if Artoo could watch over Katie while she underwent treatment, and for the droid to be named "KT" after her sister. The R2 Builders Club made Allie's idea a reality by creating a unique R2 unit especially for Katie. The 501st Legion approached Hasbro with the idea of producing a figure to commemorate R2-KT. This inspired Hasbro and Lucasfilm to help make more wishes come true for children like Katie. hasbro and Lucasfilm together are donating $100,000 in Katie's memory to the Make-A-Wish Foundations of South Carolina and San Diego.

To find out more about the 501st Legion, please go to 501st.com.
To find out more about the R2-KT project, please go to r2kt.com.
To find out more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation and their philanthropic efforts, please go to wish.org.

Watch a video clip of the official announcement of the R2-KT figure from the Hasbro presentation at Celebration IV(R2-KT segment starts about halfway through the video).Video courtesy of The Force-Cast.
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